The Arrow
by Inuyasha.SIT
Summary: Fate has never liked Watanuki...


Hey everybody. I discovered a passion for xxxHolic relatively recently, so this would be my first fic for this manga. However, this is not my first piece of story writing by any means. I hope you all like it.

**Word Count: **2,432

**Disclaimer:** xxxHolic, as you all know, is CLAMP's. I am not CLAMP, therefore xxxHolic is not mine.

**Summary:** Fate has never liked Watanuki…

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Doumeki was still brushing his teeth when the knocking started. At least, that is how Doumeki would have described it. In reality, it was 6:00 in the morning and Doumeki was still brushing his teeth when someone, most likely someone who had been running, slammed into his front door and then proceeded to subject the poor door to the beating of its' life.

Whether he would have admitted it or not, Doumeki had been startled at the initial bang, and then surprised at the insistent pounding. As he hadn't even started his morning chores, Doumeki couldn't guess who would be this urgent this early in the morning. With a sigh, he put down his toothbrush and moved to answer the door. As it slid open, two very different emotions flashed across two very different faces. However, Watanuki quickly hid his relief and Doumeki his surprise hopefully before either of the other could witness their vulnerabilities.

The smaller of the two, who had been bent over, desperately trying to suck in air, looked up to glare at Doumeki with annoyance. The exorcist, for his part, simply stared back, visibly emotionless.

As soon as Watanuki regained breath enough to stand up, Doumeki spoke, "What are you doing here?"

"I…there…it…NOT TO SEE YOU!"

Doumeki just raised an eyebrow.

"Don't be such a jerk! Here," he thrust a bento in the archer's face, "let's go."

"I have chores to do first."

"Well, FINE then! Hurry up!"

While hardly taking his eyes off Watanuki, he turned to get his broom. He pushed past the smaller boy, who stood fidgeting, as though he was expecting something to happen any minute.

"There's another broom in the kitchen."

The most Watanuki threw at him was a glare that couldn't seem to shake off a cloud of nervousness before he disappeared into the house. Doumeki looked all around, but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary which would warrant the change in Watanuki's behavior. Not that he had expected to see anything; there were very few things supernatural that he had been able to see.

Doumeki was practically finished with the sweeping by the time Watanuki finally reemerged from the house, dragging the kitchen broom behind him. The archer followed him with blank eyes as he hesitantly left the doorway and slowly made his way down the stairs of the front porch. As he approached, he finally noticed the archer's eyes on him.

"What the hell are you looking at?"

"What's wrong?"

"Are you dense?! You and your creepy eyes won't quit staring; that's what's wrong!"

"Where's the spirit?"

"I-! I don't know. I can't see it, but it feels like it's still there."

"Hn."

He walked past Watanuki, taking his broom along the way. As the seer started yelling, he shifted the brooms so that they were both carried in one hand and stuck his newly free left forefinger in his ear.

"Were you even listening to a word I just said?! Where the hell are you going?!"

They were both standing on the porch now, Doumeki with one hand on the front door. He turned back towards the other boy to answer him, just so that his ears might catch a moment of a break.

"I have to put away the brooms and get my shoes if we're going to go to school." He opened the door and stepped through, "Unless you'd like to stay here all day?" His back was to Watanuki, so the boy could not see the smirk that crossed his features.

"WHAT?! What idiot would want to stay with YOU all day?! Of course I want to go to school, you Jerk!!"

After Watanuki's "Jerk," Doumeki heard a small noise. A noise he was all too familiar with. A noise that, had it occurred next to his own ear, would have brought comfort, but in this moment and under these circumstances, it only caused his stomach to drop and his heart to freeze. As he stood with the closet door open, and as Watanuki stood in the open doorway, Doumeki heard a soft twang. The kind of twang the string of a bow makes as an arrow is fired.

In that same instant, Doumeki spun around to face Watanuki. Though his face remained impassive, the look of shock and confusion on Watanuki's face was evidence enough to prove that he had not been able to hide the fear and desperation blazing in his eyes. At first, Doumeki didn't see anything, but he was not given even the chance to try to feel relief. The shock and confusion never left Watanuki's face, but with a soft 'thunk,' and a small jerk forward, a new emotion was added: pain.

Doumeki was frozen. With a cough, Watanuki forced out all the air he had just sucked in. How the archer wished that air could have been released with Watanuki's raging voice. With a shaky breath, the seer managed to find Doumeki's eyes, and the taller boy found that another emotion was swirling around in those mismatched eyes: fear.

"D-Doumeki?"

The voice was soft and breathy, and when he heard it, the lock his emotions had placed on his body was released. He took the two steps that separated him from the seer faster than any two steps he had ever taken before in his life, to catch him before he could crumble to the ground. Somewhere in his unconscious mind, he registered that his hands were laying flat against his friend's back. He gently lowered the boy to the floor, but as his body touched the ground his eyes widened and he let out a strangled gasp.

"Doumeki! Take it out! You have to take it out!"

With as much care as he could, Doumeki turned him over. He saw nothing. No arrow, no blood. The jacket on his uniform was completely unblemished, as though nothing had happened. He ran his hands over his back, just to be sure, but his hands met with nothing.

He turned him back over, "There's nothing there."

"I'm cold. It's cold."

He ripped off his jacked and threw it over his body, tucking the edges around him. He turned his attention to the boy's face to find that he could no longer see his eyes.

"Open your eyes."

"I'm…sorry."

"Did you know this would happen?"

"I though…I…was safe…here."

"Damnit. Open your eyes."

"Doumeki."

He laid a hand on the side of Watanuki's face.

"It…hurts…so much."

"…"

"I-I'm…so…I'm…s-sorry."

A strange sensation took hold of Doumeki. His entire body felt tight. His nose started to prickle, then run and if felt like a large ball of something had just made itself a home in his throat. As his eyes started to tingle, he raised his hand to feel the tears, but no sooner had his fingers left Watanuki's face, than the boy let out a small mutter of protest. His face had left fear behind, and was now distorted into a raw state of panic.

"Don't…leave! Please!"

"Oi, Idiot. I haven't gone anywhere."

"I can't…see you."

Doumeki felt his heart break, and the tears, which had only before been threatening, could be held back no longer. One agonizingly slow descent at a time, they fell down his cheeks. He once again leaned forward and, this time with both hands, took hold of Watanuki's face.

"A-am I…going…to di-die?"

"You can't…you owe me dinner and dessert for this."

"Bas…stard."

Again Watanuki missed the smirk that crossed Doumeki's face, though this one was strained with pain.

"I want inari zushi and onigri."

"I…don't…take…orders…yo-you…Jerk."

"Hn."

Once again, Doumeki removed his hands from Watanuki's face, only to place one under his shoulders and the other under his knees.

"What…Ahh!...What are you…doing?"

"I thought That Woman would be here by now," was all he said before walking out the door, Watanuki in tow. The seer should have been a burden, but he walked with a purpose and so the boy felt light in his arms. He didn't know exactly what he'd do when he got to the shop, but he hoped that, today, he'd be able to see it. If not, well, then at the least, Yuuko better damn well be there.

As he walked, Watanuki was unusually silent. At first, he wasn't too alarmed because he could feel the steady, if ragged, rise and fall of pressure from the seer's back as he breathed. After a while, however, Doumeki's worry got the better of him.

"Oi, don't fall asleep."

"Doumeki, can you he-hear anything?"

"What do you hear?"

"Someone-s…calling m-me…They…want s-something…from…me."

Watanuki's eyes drifted shut again.

"Open your eyes."

"I can't…see, a-and…they-re so…heavy."

"Blink."

Watanuki hesitated a moment before obeying.

"Close your eyes tight…open them wide."

"Is…that…it?"

"Hn."

"What the…hell…w-…"

"Shut up."

"…Doumeki…"

"We're almost there."

"Th-they…"

"What do they want?"

"They…want…me to…follow."

"Ignore them."

Doumeki could see the telltale poles now, but the background was still an empty lot; neither was Yuuko anywhere in sight. Doumeki was furious. He couldn't understand why he still couldn't see the shop. If ever there was a time that he needed a wish granted, it was now. Beyond that, he knew that Watanuki's boss had a stake in her employee's life; why the damn witch wouldn't show now, when it appeared as though that life would be reaching its end, was beyond him.

"Yuuko!"

It was the first time he had yelled…ever, in his memory and it was waisted, as he got no response.

"D-Doumeki…"

Doumeki gently placed Watanuki on the ground, "What?"

"Yuuko…isn't…here."

"How do you know?"

"Maru-ch-chan…M-Moro…ch-ch…"

"I get it."

S-so…cold…I-I…can't…feel…"

"…"

"I-I'm…s-sorry…Dou…"

"Don't apologi-"

He was cut off by Watanuki, who gasped and his eyes stretched their farthest, "No!...D-don't!"

"Oi."

Tears formed at the corners of Watanuki's eyes and it sounded as though he were fighting for every breath.

"Oi."

"They…re…touching me…It…hurts!"

"Where"

"Their…hands…are so c-cold."

Doumeki once again took Watanuki's face in two hands, his own nose mere inches away from the seer's, "Oi! Where?"

Watanuki jumped at the initial shock of Doumeki's voice, "M-my…chest."

Desperate, the once-stoic boy took one hand away from the smaller boy's face, placed it on his chest and prayed to any god who would listen to grant him the strength to purify whatever was torturing Watanuki.

"Stop!"

He almost jumped from the strength of the sound, being that close to Watanuki's mouth. Instead, he opened his eyes to look into the seer's terror-filled ones.

"It won't…work."

"I have to try."

"No…they'll…you…"

Though he couldn't see, Watanuki's eyes held a desperation in them that Doumeki knew was for him. He took his hand away from his chest and gently replaced it on his cheek.

"I'll be fine. They can't get near me, remember?"

"Her…arrow…did."

The archer paused. Watanuki was right, but he couldn't just leave him to die, "Her arrow got through the protection of the shrine. I couldn't even see it. It probably can't harm me." He neglected to mention that regardless of sight, he _had_ been able to hear the arrow.

"D-please…I…they don't…want…you…to touch…me. You…have to…stop."

"Idiot."

"Y-you...J-"

"Idiot. I am NOT going to just let you die."

I-I…don….y-you…for me…"

Doumeki didn't respond; he couldn't. He had already made his choice and he knew that the small boy trembling below him would not be able to accept it. Doumeki wasn't one for the significance of small movements or tones, so instead of trying to either apologize or reassure the boy with a gentle voice or a small squeeze of deft fingers, he simply lifted his right hand, once again, from Watanuki's cheek and reacquainted it with his chest.

The seer gasped and wrapped his own hands around Doumeki's wrist. The archer could tell he was trying to pull, but was just too weak. He was breathing too heavily to protest, so every ounce of desperate pleading he had was radiating from his eyes. Afraid he would fall victim to those eyes, he had to avert his own.

He could feel the opposing pressures building in his hand and in the chest below him. It began to get cold. Watanuki's breathing became more and more labored, but he pushed on, praying to the kami that he would turn out alright. Slowly, Doumeki began to realize that a change was taking place. His hands began to grow warm while the rest of him grew cold. Though Watanuki's breathing did not get any easier, his own chest felt heavier.

Watanuki coughed and Doumeki knew he was trying to speak. The archer pulled his left hand up and ran it over the seer's lips before tracing down until it rested on his chest with the other. The body below him quivered, whimpered and then his hand fell to the side.

"O-oi."

"…"

"Oi."

Those desolate eyes rose again to face in his general direction and he clenched, fighting with everything within him to watch the tear that fell down that cheek and not stop to obey everything it was pleading with him to do. He felt a stiffness begin to climb up his arms and in the next moment, with a twinkle, those eyes changed. No longer desperate, they seemed set, as if resigned to something. Doumeki furrowed his brows.

"What are you doing?"

A sick feeling seized his body as he saw a desperate need to be forgiven seep into the eyes below him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

The seer opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a sharp gasp. He smiled, closed his eyes and turned his head to the side to hide the stiffness in his smile. His breathing shallowed and his body shook like he was trying to hold back his whimpers.

"Oi…"

The shudders became barely more than a flutter.

"Oi."

Except for the very small rise and fall of his chest, his body became still.

"What have you done? Snap out of it!"

Finally, even his chest stilled.

Doumeki fisted his hands in Watanuki's clothes, "Damnit! Wake up!"

Nothing. Not even a twitch. Doumeki frantically looked all around him, before settling on the empty lot behind him.

"Yuuko!"

"…"

"Wake up, Idiot. Answer me, damnit!"

"…"

Doumeki shook him slightly, "Wake up!"

Except for his own, there was no movement within sight.

"Watanuki?...Watanuki…Watanuki! You Bastard!"

At "Bastard," he rose his hand and brought it down, hard, on Watanuki's chest. He caught himself, and a small noise slipped from his throat. He leaned forward and replaced his hand on either cheek before him. He brought his own face close to Watanuki's and spoke with a very small voice, "I'm sorry. Please wake up…Kimihiro."

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There you have it. Please leave me a review. This was written to be a one-shot, but as I wrote, a small plot bunny found its way into my mind, and I can see this continuing. However, it may not happen for some time, so for now, take it as a one shot. I may end up writing a sequel or a continuance sometime in the future, but it is not guaranteed.


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